Roger Williams Park Zoo visit on November 9, 2023
This was my second of three visits that I'll be taking in these first weeks of November. Over the two trips, I was able to talk with some very helpful people. That is always nice when visiting a zoo. It was pretty cold, but most animals were out, including the giraffes.
animal updates:
A male sunbittern has come in from Toronto. As I understand it, he is still being acclimated to the rainforest atrium so if off-display for the time being.
One of the titi monkey sons is being kept elsewhere for aggression reasons. Apparently, staff are going to do an evaluation on him for the best course of action. If he is sent out, hopefully a female can be brought in.
A giant wood rail has been moved to the medical center for foot issues.
There are two new camels in Marco Polo's Adventure Trek, Oliver and Nova. I'm not sure when exactly Popcorn and Marshmallow left, as it could have been a while ago now, but they're gone.
The two boat-billed herons, which are brother and sister, had made a nest at the very top of the mock rock on the one wall of Faces of the Rainforest. The birds evidently didn't have breeding success because they are once again spending all of their time at the ceiling.
Female blue-throated piping guan Cookie sadly had to be euthanized. She and Monster (the adult male) were two of my favorite animals at the zoo so I'm really sad. In other blue-throated piping guan news, their latest chick now has all of her adult plumage.
Staff were inside the World of Adaptions building with two juvenile corn snakes. I was told they received a group of newly-hatched individuals recently. They also said the department received a six-banded armadillo earlier this year.
Kirk's dik-dik Yuji has been very nervous around Norman the bat-eared fox so Yuji has been occupying the off-exhibit yard. This has been for the past few months. The zookeeper I spoke to attributes this uneasiness to Yuji's personality more than anything and that they might try introducing them to each other again next year.
One of the rabbits at the farm was euthanized.
The turkey vulture that was briefly with the American black vultures will be returning to the zoo in the capacity of an ambassador animal. That was his role at his previous home and he is apparently better suited for it.
exhibit updates:
All funding required for the serval Velma's enclosure has been obtained.
After a string of announcements about new enclosures or renovations to existing enclosures, there are signs up outside of the gibbon enclosure stating that their exhibit will be reworked so that it is much taller. Personally, I hope this ends up being similar to the enclosures in Akron and Nashville, but I'm not sure if the project is extensive enough for that. If the majority of the walls and the holding structure are maintained, then it probably won't be as impressive. Construction is scheduled to begin in a few weeks.
The new red panda enclosure construction is coming along nicely. I'm a bit surprised by just how much indoor space is being allotted for their new indoor quarters. I must have lost my photographs of it or else I'd post them.
animal highlights:
Four of the zoo's sloths were all in the Faces of the Rainforest atrium. Beanie, the first sloth born to the current breeding pair, was at the ceiling, which I knew they could do but had never seen before. Westley, her father, was hanging out near the window to his holding as I've seen before, but not in a long time. One of the keepers went to feed him and the tamarins were getting in the way.
I was looking for George the Asian black bear in his enclosure and realized he hadn't been out because I saw him come out of his holding shoot thing. Enrichment had been placed throughout the enclosure, so he was very energetic. Usually I only see him and when Gracie was alive, her too, sleeping. I asked a keeper who was watching him from the viewing window if he wasn't outside in the morning for medical reasons and she reassured me, saying that he isn't even on pain medications.
